At least the Boat Floats

I woke somewhere near 7:15am after a rather restful night’s sleep on my Coleman air mattress. I whipped out 50 push-ups and dressed in my running gear. My first order of business after brushing my teeth was to get some coffee going. Soon everyone else began waking. I had my first cup of coffee down when they woke. We took our time around camp and I took off for a run around 9am. It was a beautiful morning as the sun was shining brightly over the lake. When I returned from my run breakfast was all but ready. While eating I noticed a strange body moving about in Tommy’s tent. I later learned that it was Heather, Tommy’s girlfriend who showed up late last night after the rest of us were sound asleep. After everyone ate we prepped the boat and coolers for a day on the lake. We hit the lake at 11:30am. We sat at the dock after launching for several minutes while I struggled with starting the boat. Eventually we got it going. We decided to tube right away. First Jacob went and did a great job. We were surprised by his bravery and eagerness. Next, Tommy went and demonstrated some of his old form as he swung from side to side. Next, Mindy went with Bella and then alone. She did well too. After everyone tubed ( Glenn and Heather didn’t want to), we headed toward the swim cove. There were only two other boats back there, and we made our way to the very back as usual. We floated, swam, and soaked up the sun all afternoon. Everyone had a good time. Heather helped Jacob fish some later in the afternoon. Some time around 2:30pm we called Dad’s cell to see if he and Bob were coming up as planned. He was just now putting in and that Bob was already on the lake. He’d first find Bob and then find us in the cove. They showed up around 3pm and hung with us for about an hour. We all had a good time playing in the water. As everyone departed the cove, I detected that familiar whine of a loose alternator belt. This time however, it stopped abruptly as we gunned it. I asked Tommy to check to see if the belt was still on since my battery voltage dropped to 12 volts on the gauge. As feared, it has snapped off. We flagged down Dad and asked that he follow us to the camp dock to ensure that we got back safely. So, not only were we having starting troubles, but now we were having belt issues. GREAT!!! Can anything else go wrong with the boat? Once we were back to the dock, Dad took off on his own. After we trailered and retuned to camp we began readying for dinner. I was not very happy with all that had unfolded with the boat. There just seems to be constant problems with it recently. I decided that tomorrow morning I would go find all the parts (2- v-belts and a starter) to get the boat fixed once and for all. I was grumpy for the rest of the evening. Around the campfire I remembered that Paul’s Marine was just a few miles down the road. Assuming that they’d be open, I figured I would head there and purchase ‘genuine’ Mercrusier parts come morning. Once I had formed a clear plan, I was finally able to relax a little. Mindy had already headed off to bed, I joined her in the tent about 30 minutes later.